An Edge Think Consulting, LCC White Paper

Energizing Public Safety Communications and

Securing the Smart Grid

By J. Lawrence Toole, Managing Director

lawrence.toole@edgethinkconsulting.com
www.edgethinkconsulting.com

Date: Fall 2009

Table of Contents
Challenges and Opportunities ..................................................................................................... 3
Here Comes the Smart Grid .......................................................................................................... 3
Wireless Broadband for Public Safety ........................................................................................ 6
Convergence of Parallel Paths ..................................................................................................... 8
Strategy – Key Elements ............................................................................................................. 10
Putting It All Together ................................................................................................................. 12
Value Proposition Summary ....................................................................................................... 13
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 14

Date: Fall 2009

Challenges and Opportunities
The world is warming, energy dependency is rising, the economy has collapsed, and first
responders need improved communication systems. While these challenges are
seemingly disconnected, an opportunity exists to address each one through a single
integrated, cohesive strategy. Implementation of this strategy can be jumpstarted by
leveraging funding from several investments areas within the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, most notably broadband and energy, and future
funding from other government initiatives, such as the pending climate bill.

Now is the time for the U.S. to implement an integrated national smart grid public safety
wireless broadband network. The return on this investment will be significant and far-
reaching with benefits for first responders, the environment, taxpayers, and society as a
whole.

Here Comes the Smart Grid

Rising greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, are
contributing to global warming. Climate experts, with increased urgency, are calling for
governments to reduce current emission rates by as much as 90% by the year 2050. They
warn that non-action could lead to run away global warming by the end of this century,
where global temperatures rise up to 5° C higher than today, 30% of the world’s land
masses become desert, and sea levels rise up to 3 feet.

Addressing this global threat requires action on many fronts. Most importantly,
significant changes to the nation’s energy infrastructure are required. Momentum is
building to transform our nation’s electric grid system. The term “smart grid” has been
given to those collective technologies and processes needed to complete this overhaul.
Implementation of the smart grid is an important component of this nation’s energy and
climate change abatement strategy. The smart grid will lead to improved efficiency in
the generation and transmission of electricity and reduced peak load demand. The smart
grid will also allow renewable energy production to be more efficiently integrated into
this nation’s energy mix. All of this translates into more efficient use of energy, which
leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Recently, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released the first
draft of the “NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards.”
This framework identifies the key components and processes comprising the smart grid.
The figure below depicts the NIST smart grid conceptual reference model.

Date: Fall 2009 3

Source: NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards

This conceptual model identifies seven domain areas (bulk generation, transmission,
distribution, customer, markets, operations, and service provider) and the major people,
processes, and applications within each domain. As shown in the diagram, secure
communications among and between domains is a critical layer of the smart grid.

From a technical perspective, the smart grid communications network enables

deployment of both an Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and visualization
technology. Both components are critical to the smart grid.

AMI refers to adding intelligence to the grid to monitor the health of the system and to
meter systems capable of recording and reporting energy consumption data and other
measurements at intervals typically more frequent than a customer’s normal billing cycle.
AMI may include several different components, including phasor measurement units
(PMUs) to monitor the status of the transmission and delivery system, smart meters and
smart appliances installed at customer end points, a back-end data warehouse, and a
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. It is the smart grid’s
communications layer that enables all the machine-to-machine (M2M) data exchange
occurring across the grid.

Date: Fall 2009 4

The deployment of smart meters and smart appliances will enable utilities and energy
consumers to communicate real time on power usage decisions. Smart appliances can be
pre-programmed with the preferences of the energy consumer. The utility can
communicate with these smart appliances and based on the pre-established preferences,
adjustments in energy consumption can be made. This can result in reduced energy costs
for the consumer and reduced peak load for the utility. The net result is more efficient
energy use which translates to lower greenhouse gas emissions and less need to build new
power plants.

Visualization technology is comprised of software tools and applications which support

visualization of the grid at both the macro and micro levels. Such visualization capability
supports real-time “state-of-the-grid” analysis and can be used to better manage blackout
and power quality issues leading to better system response and quality of service. PMUs
are typically installed throughout the grid to provide the necessary data to perform a real-
time data analysis. Smart grid visualization can not occur without a robust
communications layer.

Current estimates suggest a fully deployed smart grid can improve the efficiency of
electricity use by 5% to 10%. Given the magnitude of the electricity use in the U.S., a
5% to 10% efficiency improvement provides significant cost savings and environmental
benefits. For example, in 2008 the U.S. federal government consumed 55.6 TWh
(terawatt-hours) of electricity. If the smart grid produced a 5% efficiency improvement,
2.78 TWh of electricity will be saved. Assuming the 2008 average U.S. price for a kWh
was $.1024, the savings of 2.78 TWh of electricity translates into an energy cost savings
for the federal government of $284.8 million per year. The reduced use in electricity
would also result in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of 1.64 million metric tons
or the equivalent removal of almost 300,000 vehicles from our nation’s highways.

Cost savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions are even greater if the smart grid
efficiencies are applied to the annual electricity consumption of the entire U.S., not just
the federal government. With a 5% efficiency gain, over $21 billion would be saved at
the 2008 electricity consumption levels and carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced
by 120.9 million metric tons or the equivalent removal of almost 22 million vehicles from
our nation’s highways.

Smart grid benefits can only be realized if a robust, ubiquitous communications network,
both wired and wireless, is implemented. The Utilities Telecom Council (UTC), which is
a global trade association dedicated to creating a favorable business, regulatory, and
technological environment for companies that own, manage, or provide critical
telecommunications systems in support of their core business, has advocated that 30 MHz
of dedicated spectrum be allocated to the industry by the FCC to support smart grid and
other critical infrastructure industry (CII) purposes. UTC argues that without such
allocation there is insufficient spectrum available to their industry members to meet their
long term wireless communications needs.

Date: Fall 2009 5

Cost estimates to build the smart grid nationally vary widely. The current U.S. Energy
Secretary, Dr. Steven Chu, recently estimated the cost to be “over $100 billion.” An
industry study completed in 2004 estimated the cost at $165 billion. On the high end,
there have been estimates up to $2 trillion. Benefits attributed to building the smart grid
have also been estimated. A study completed by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2003,
estimated the potential financial benefit of implementing smart grid technologies over the
next 20 years at a present value (PV) of $75 billion.

To jumpstart the process of building the smart grid, $4.3 billion in funding from ARRA
has been made available. Additional government investment is expected when the U.S.
passes a climate bill sometime in 2009 or 2010. Private investment by technology
companies and utilities is occurring now and anticipated to continue in the future,
especially if momentum to build a green economy continues.

Wireless Broadband for Public Safety

The events of September 11, 2001 serve as a constant reminder that public safety and
homeland security is a critical national issue. The urgency of implementing wireless
broadband services for public safety users has steadily increased. New network
technologies and emerging standards are creating a delivery framework which can host a
variety of applications which will support and improve public safety field operations and
emergency response.

The technology standard of choice for these emerging networks is Long Term Evolution
(LTE). Recently, the Association of Public Safety Communication Officials (APCO), the
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC), and the Public Safety
Spectrum Trust (PSST) have endorsed LTE as the preferred technology standard for
mobile broadband services for public safety. Additionally, several of the larger network
providers of commercial mobile broadband services have indicated that LTE will be used
in the construction of their 4th Generation (4G) commercial networks.

LTE is an all IP-based network which can support a full suite of mobile services,
including voice, data, and video. The architecture is scalable, allowing for dramatic
increases in the number of direct connections to user terminals, orders of magnitude of
bandwidth increase, and dynamic terminal mobility configuration. Key system
components include licensed radio frequency spectrum to support the wireless service
and the Evolved Packet System (EPS). EPS includes all the network components,
services, and radio interfaces needed to deliver a complete fourth generation (4G) mobile
broadband solution.

An LTE network can support a variety of public safety applications, including streaming
video (surveillance, remote monitoring), digital imaging, automatic vehicle location,
computer aided dispatching, e-mail, mapping/GIS, remote database access, report
management system access, text messaging, telemetry/remote diagnostics, and web
access, both Intranet and Internet.

Date: Fall 2009 6

In 2007, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established a plan to promote
the implementation of a nationwide interoperable broadband network for public safety.
The plan had several elements. First, the FCC assigned a single nationwide Public Safety
Broadband License (PSBL) in the 700 MHz spectrum range to the Public Safety
Spectrum Trust (PSST). Next, the FCC developed a framework to auction a 700 MHz
commercial license in the Upper D Block range subject to stipulations that the winning
bidder would enter into a Network Sharing Agreement (NSA) with the PSST, the holder
of the PSBL, to build a nationwide network for combined public safety and commercial
use. The arrangement, touted as a public/private partnership, gives public safety priority
access to the commercial spectrum in times of emergency, while the commercial licensee
gets preemptible, secondary access to the public safety broadband spectrum.

In early 2008, the FCC auction of the D Block spectrum failed when only one bidder
made an offer well below the auction reserve price of $1.3 billion. Since then, no
additional auctions have been conducted and implementation of a nationwide network
remains a goal not yet realized. With the uncertainty associated with the auction process,
many public safety organizations and officials have expressed dissatisfaction with the
public/private partnership idea and have suggested that the FCC abandon this idea in
favor of a new strategy. At least two alternative proposals have recently emerged.

One proposal, backed by a large segment of the public safety community, throws support
behind a strategy which would allocate the D-Block spectrum directly to public safety
organizations on a state, local, and regional basis. This spectrum would be combined
with spectrum currently held by the PSST to build a public safety-only broadband
network across the nation. A total of 24 MHz of bandwidth would be available to public
safety. The new model would leverage existing commercial network infrastructure and
would not be beholden to a single technology provider, although adherence to LTE would
be required. Such a proposal would need to be approved by Congress since the original
D-Block allocation strategy was mandated by Congress.

Another alternative proposal, with the backing of the National Emergency Number
Association (NENA) and wireless providers, such as Leap Wireless, MetroPCS, and T-
Mobile U.S.A, calls for the auction of the D-Block spectrum to a commercial entity
without the subsequent stipulation for the bid winner to form a public-private partnership.
The proceeds from the auction would then be used by public safety to help fund the
construction of a public safety-only broadband network.

Critics of this proposal have expressed doubt that proceeds from the auction would come
close to covering the costs needed to construct a national public safety broadband
network. This funding issue would also apply to the other alternative proposal. Steve
Zipperstein, Verizon’s Vice President for Legal and External Affairs, in a speech on
April 17, 2009 to the National Press Club, put the cost of constructing the national
network between $15 and $20 billion.

Recently, four states and a dozen cities have submitted petitions of waivers to the FCC
for authority to deploy local and regional public safety networks in the 700 MHz

Date: Fall 2009 7

spectrum planned for the nationwide network. The petitioners claim that if granted the
waiver, they can immediately begin deployment of a public safety network in their region
without the need to wait for a successful auction. Should the auction be successfully
completed sometime in the future, these local or regional networks can be incorporated
into the larger nationwide network implementation.

But how will the petitioners fund their initiatives? Traditionally, funding public safety
communications networks has always been an issue. Today, most state and local
governments are strapped to come up with adequate funding to just maintain and upgrade
existing land mobile radio (LMR) systems for public safety voice communications, much
less build a new public safety broadband network. In fact, the FCC’s original strategy to
promote a public/private partnership to build a national public safety broadband network
was partly to offset the significant costs associated with network construction. A viable
replacement funding strategy with national scale has not yet emerged.

Initially, there was some hope in the public safety community that the passage of ARRA
earlier in 2009 could be a potential funding source to jumpstart the public safety wireless
broadband network. ARRA allocated $7.2 billion for advancing broadband access
throughout the United States and the language of the bill denoted public safety as a core
purpose for broadband funding. Unfortunately, when the application requirements for the
first funding round were released, the program administrators tied restrictive pre-
conditions to the public safety core purpose. Any proposed service area for public safety
broadband had to first be in an area that was “unserved” or “underserved” from a public
access broadband perspective. This effectively relegated areas eligible for public safety
broadband funding to very remote and under-populated areas with little, if any, existing
public access broadband in place. Since it makes little sense to deploy fragmented public
safety systems that only partially cover service areas, the first broadband funding round
had minimal benefits for the public safety community.

There will be at least one more funding round for the ARRA broadband program and an
opportunity exists for the program administers to change application requirements so they
are more favorable to the needs of public safety. Nevertheless, it’s doubtful that enough
funding will be allocated to public safety to make significant progress on building a
national broadband network and so a big question mark remains as to how this initiative
will be funded.

Convergence of Parallel Paths

In many important ways, initiatives to advance both a national public safety broadband
and smart grid network are on similar, albeit parallel, paths. The public safety
community needs spectrum, technology, and a build and funding model to realize their
goals and objectives. The critical infrastructure industry (CII) needs similar elements to
deploy the smart grid. Both initiatives have significant overlap in both need and
requirement, especially related to wireless communications.

From a national policy perspective, there is an opportunity for the federal government to
influence the future direction of both initiatives and to nurture a convergence of need,

Date: Fall 2009 8

where appropriate and practical. This makes both national policy and practical sense.
Done correctly, this nation can simultaneously address homeland security, climate
change, and energy security using a strategy that exploits natural synergies inherent to
public safety broadband and the smart grid. While there is always a tendency for
organizations to perpetuate “stovepipe” thinking, this pattern can be broken with creative
solutions that exploit existing interconnections among issues and strategies. Recent
actions suggest this is now occurring at some levels within the federal government.

Climate change is no longer considered a threat to just the environment. Increasingly, the
effects of climate change are seen to have significant national security implications.
Recent war game exercises conducted by the Pentagon conclude that climate change can
precipitate humanitarian crises around the world. Areas, such as the sub-Saharan Africa,
the Middle East and South, and Southeast Asia are particularly vulnerable to the climate
change “domino effect,” where drought or flooding can lead to food shortages and
disease, which can lead to the collapse of governments and social systems creating
thousands of environmental refugees. While Hurricane Katrina can’t be linked
specifically to global warming, the havoc caused by the storm, especially in New
Orleans, demonstrated how extreme weather can disrupt society, even in a developed
country like the United States.

The Obama Administration has made climate change and national security a central
policy focus. Both the Pentagon and the State Department are now considering the
effects of global warming in their long-term planning strategies and documents. More
and more, the interconnectedness among climate change, national security, energy,
homeland security, and public safety are becoming apparent. Funding initiatives which
address this intersection point is crucial.

Even in the private sector, corporate leaders are calling for more forward thinking,
coordinated solutions to our most pressing problems. Jeffery Immelt, the CEO of
General Electric, argues that business needs to move away from protecting the status quo.
He points out that in order for the nation to successfully invest in massive infrastructure
projects, like the smart grid, government and business need to work closely together to
align technology, government policy, capital markets, and execution skills.

The FCC is one such government agency that can play a pivotal role in aligning
government policy with technology and encouraging the business sector to make the
necessary investments in areas like wireless communications for public safety and the
smart grid. The FCC regulates the allocation of radio frequency spectrum crucial for
public safety and smart grid wireless communications. The FCC has also been given the
responsibility, as part of ARRA, for creating a National Broadband Plan. In preparation
for the plan, the FCC sponsored a series of broadband workshops on a wide range of
topics, including “Public Safety and Homeland Security” and “Smart Grid, Broadband,
and Climate Change.” While these separate workshops did not overlap, the opportunity
is now there to more fully pursue smart grid and public safety communications
integration and incorporate such strategies into the national plan.

Date: Fall 2009 9

Now may also be the time for the FCC to thoroughly revamp its approach to auctioning
the 700 MHz D Block spectrum and to establish a public-private partnership to build and
maintain a commercial/public safety broadband network. A new strategy, which
integrates smart grid and public safety communications infrastructure, should be
seriously considered. Such strategy leverages technology and resources in creative ways
to create breakthroughs in efficiencies and cost savings. Unlike the FCC’s original
proposal and the recent alternative proposals, an integrated smart grid public safety
broadband network has a sustainable funding model and an extremely attractive value
proposition.

Strategy – Key Elements

The framework for this new strategy includes the following key elements:

Public Safety and Utility Radio Spectrum Linkage- Just as the FCC attempted
to couple the 700 MHz D Block spectrum to public safety spectrum to promote
the implementation of a national broadband network, spectrum allocated to the
utility industry for smart grid applications should be linked to the public safety
spectrum to promote an innovative public-private partnership to build an
integrated smart grid public safety wireless communications network.

Currently, the utility industry seeks 30 MHz of bandwidth. The opportunity to

closely link this spectrum to the 24 MHz of bandwidth sought by the public safety
community should be thoroughly investigated.

With this linkage established, the private sector can begin to consolidate around
communication standards and frequencies for smart grid machine to machine
communications. As the recent consolidation in the public safety area has
occurred around 700 MHz LTE, a similar consolidation can be positioned to
happen in the smart grid area.

Public-Private Partnership- The FCC should consider an auction, either national

or regional, of the 30 MHz of bandwidth requested by the utility industry for
smart grid applications. Such auction should be tied to a Network Sharing
Agreement that requires the winning bidder to concurrently build out the
infrastructure to support a dual purpose smart grid and public safety network
utilizing frequency allocated for both purposes. In this case the combined 24
MHz of bandwidth, which includes the 700 MHz D Block, would be used to serve
public safety and the 30 MHz allocated to CII would be used for the smart grid.
The end result would be the implementation of a private network dedicated to
supporting both smart grid and public safety communications.

This approach eliminates criticisms directed at the FCC by many in the public
safety community today who did not believe a public safety network should share
infrastructure with a commercial network. Coupling public safety and smart grid
communications on a private network is more compatible than a public safety and

Date: Fall 2009 10

 commercial network coupling. Both public safety and the smart grid have more
rigid security and reliability requirements. These needs can be more effectively
leveraged by sharing infrastructure such as communication towers, redundant
power supplies, and communications equipment.

Funding and Sustainability- This partnership model supports a funding strategy

that should attract auction bidders and provide a long term solution for funding
public safety broadband. Winning bidder(s) of the smart grid spectrum would
have access to a huge market of soon to be installed smart grid devices, like smart
meters, smart appliances, and PMUs, which will continuously use the
implemented wireless network to exchange data crucial to the function of the
smart grid. As with cell phone users, the network provider(s) would charge the
utility companies or owners of the smart grid devices a monthly communications
fee. Revenue generated from smart grid communications fee would also offset
costs associated with the public safety communications network.

Adjustments to the revenue model could be applied, if necessary. For example, a

portion of the energy cost savings derived directly from implementation of the
smart grid, could be used to support the ongoing maintenance and operations of
the dual purpose network. This approach could be further refined by introducing
performance contracting, much the way energy service companies (ESCOs)
derive revenue by receiving a portion of the energy cost savings incurred from
implementation of a customer project. In this case, the network provider might
derive a revenue stream when the smart grid meets certain efficiency performance
metrics.

Alignment with ARRA Investment Areas and Pending Climate Bill- This new
strategy is directly consistent with the goals and objectives of the ARRA. It
provides an integrated solution within two key investment areas of ARRA,
broadband and energy.

The pending climate bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Bill of 2009, is
an area of opportunity for further integrating the smart grid and public safety
broadband. This bill has passed in the House with the Senate vote pending.
Passage of the bill will mean that for the first time this country will regulate
carbon dioxide emissions through the formation of a “cap and trade” system.
Other components of the bill include funding for renewable energy and other
energy and energy efficiency technologies, including the smart grid. Passage of
the bill should be seen as an opportunity to further leverage technologies for dual
purpose making the reality of an integrated public safety broadband network
smart grid solution possible.

In some of the less populated areas of the country, it could be more cost effective to just
deploy the public safety portion of the network and utilize public safety spectrum only for
both smart grid and public safety communications. Yet, some may question whether it is

Date: Fall 2009 11

permissible to use radio frequency spectrum allocated for public safety to communicate
data associated with the smart grid.

Section 337(a) (1) of the Communications Act required the FCC to allocate the 700 MHz
spectrum in question for “public safety services.” Section 337(f) (1) of the Act defines
“public safety services” as services- a) the sole or principal purpose of which is to protect
the safety of life, health, or property b) that are provided by state or local government
agencies or nongovernmental organizations that are authorized by the government entity
whose primary mission is the provision of such services, and c) that are not made
commercially available by the provider of such service.

In April 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that six types of
greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide, endangered the public health and welfare
and could be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Since the smart grid contributes to the
reduction of these greenhouse gases and since the EPA considers such gases dangerous,
the use of radio spectrum allocated for public safety to support smart grid applications
would be an appropriate and permissible “public safety service” under Section 337.

Putting It All Together

By combining smart grid and public safety communication technologies, an integrated
solution materializes which provides advanced communications capability for mobile
first responders and energy management for widely dispersed building facilities and
critical infrastructure. The size of the network deployment determines how extensive
benefits are for public safety and energy management. For example, a national
deployment of the network could bring widespread benefits to public safety users at the
national, state, county, and local level and provide comprehensive energy management
opportunities for all energy assets across the U.S. A lesser network deployment, for
example in a region or state, provides the same benefits but on a smaller scale.

The figure below depicts the main system components of the solution. The wireless
broadband network is based on the LTE standard and the Evolved Packet System. EPS
includes the required network components and resulting two-way wireless
communications to support mobile services for public safety users and all installed smart
grid components, such as smart meters and smart appliances. Part of the EPS is the
installed network of communication towers across the coverage area supporting the radio
network. Each communication tower typically includes a base station and all supporting
radio components to support both smart grid and 700 MHz public safety two-way
communications. The final configuration for required communications hardware and
software will be dependent upon how radio spectrum is ultimately allocated to smart grid
and public safety use.

Date: Fall 2009 12

 Integrated Smart Grid/Public Safety Wireless
Broadband Network
Smart Meter

Comm Protocols

2-way Access to mobile services to

communications support incident
management and field
Integrated Building Smart Grid Comm operations
Controls Tower
Critical Infrastructure
Office Building Apartment
Building
Comm
Tower
Base Station

Comm
Base Station
Tower Comm
Tower

Gov Building Evolved Packet Core

Comm Base Station
Tower
Comm Base Station
Shared Communication Tower
Infrastructure
Base Station

Smart Gird Monitoring

Base Station Gov Building
and Control Applications
(SCADA System)

Shared Public Safety Mobile

Application Services
Phasor
Measurement
Unit (PMU) to
monitor health of Power Plants
electric grid

First responders, such as law enforcement and emergency medical services, will utilize
network services by installing laptops with air interface cards in their vehicles. Building
facilities and other energy distribution and consuming assets, which fall within the
coverage area of the wireless network, can be equipped with smart meters, PMUs, smart
appliances, and integrated building controls for lighting and HVAC. Machine-to-
machine communications among and between these devices and the backend SCADA
system is supported by the wireless network leading to greater energy efficiency, reduced
cost, and reduced peak load demand. If the network covers a large enough area with
enough energy assets on the network, the reduction in peak load demand can be
significant, delaying the need for utilities to build more power plants. This would lead to
substantive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

Value Proposition Summary

The integrated smart grid public safety wireless broadband network provides a multitude
of benefits across several major national policy initiatives. Successful implementation of
the network will result in tangible benefits for public safety, the energy sector, the
environment, and society at large. The value proposition for this proposed solution is
summarized in the table below.

Date: Fall 2009 13

 Value Proposition Summary for Integrated Smart Grid
Public Safety Broadband Network
Public Safety/Homeland Security
Value Provided:
Improved and expanded data communications
More mobile services
Better protection and service to communities
More secure network infrastructure
Sustainable funding strategy
Energy
Value Provided:
Improved energy efficiency
Reduced peak load demand
Improved potential to integrate renewable energy sources
Energy cost savings
More secure network for smart grid communications
Environment
Value Provided:
Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
Climate change mitigation strategy
Greater ability to move away from fossil fuels
Society
Value Provided:
Cost effective strategy for addressing key national priorities
Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
Vital homeland security infrastructure implemented
Effective leveraging of federal stimulus money and use of taxpayer money
Promotes effective alignment of government and business sector to achieve national good

Conclusion
A confluence of events begs for more innovative solutions to our most pressing problems.
Integrating the smart grid with public safety communications is a winning combination.
The smart grid gains a secure communications network from public safety and public
safety gains a funding source from the energy cost savings incurred from the smart grid.
Both initiatives gain critical components needed for success and society and the
environment wins on all fronts.

Date: Fall 2009 14